Bath Time Interruption
by GaeilgeRua
Summary: After a stressful day at work, Hermione just wants to relax in a warm bath. Her boyfriend interrupts her alone time.


This was written for Day #1 of the 31 Days of Fanfiction Challenge. The theme is shameless fluff. Huge thanks to my beta, Meiri, for her help. Any other errors are my own.

Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable aspect from the Harry Potter world. The story plot does belong to me. I am making no profit from this writing.

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Hermione tossed her keys into the little bowl on the front room table as she closed the door behind her. She sighed and stumbled her way over to the hall closet where she removed her outer cloak and haphazardly hung it up. Leaning against the now closed door, she slowly pulled off her sensible kitten heels and held them in one hand as she flexed her toes. Hermione knew her boyfriend would still be at work at St. Mungo's for a couple more hours, so she planned to soak in their tub to destress from her hectic day down in the Ministry courtrooms. Dinner could wait.

The exhausted witch made her up the stairs and down the little hallway to the bedroom she shared with the love of her life. On autopilot, she opened the door and walked over to the walk-in closet, putting her shoes away and discarding her work clothes in the hamper. After she grabbed pyjamas for the evening, she returned to their bedroom, intending to go to the attached ensuite, but stopped dead in her tracks.

"Zach, what are you doing here?" Hermione stared at her boyfriend in confusion. "I thought you were still at work."

He just stared at her, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

Hermione looked down and realised that she was completely nude. She rolled her eyes at his reactions and walked over to the ensuite where she placed her pyjamas on the counter and grabbed her robe from the back of the door. Walking back out, she moved over to their bed where he was still sitting on the edge and stood in front of him.

"Zach, is everything okay? Did something happen at work?" She ran her hands through his short blond hair, lightly scraping her nails against his scalp. Hermione noticed that there were red and variegated tulip petals strewn across their bed. She smiled at their meaning, perfect love and beautiful eyes respectively. She also felt her heart swell with even more love for the wizard before her that he chose her favourite flower rather than the traditional roses. Neither of them was perfect and they didn't always have the most perfect relationship, but what they did have was perfect for them. Zach always made an effort to tell her as often as possible that while her intelligence is what drew him to her that it was her beautiful, expressive dark eyes that sealed the deal for him.

His hazel eyes slipped closed in bliss as she massaged his scalp. After a few moments, he reached up and stilled her hands so he could concentrate. "I asked to get off shift early tonight because I wanted to surprise you, but it looks like you have other plans for the evening."

Hermione smiled softly. "Well, you definitely surprised me. And I was just planning to take a bath before you got home to relax. It was stressful at work."

He squeezed her hands. "I'm sorry, love."

She shook her head, her dark curls bouncing back and forth with the movement. "It matters not now that I'm with you."

"I'm glad to hear that because I have a question for you."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

He slid from the edge of the bed to kneel on one knee before her, digging through his pocket. Pulling out his hand, he opened it to reveal a small dark blue velvet box.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Zach, are you…"

"I am." Grasping her right hand with his free one, he smiled. "I know I was a downright arse in school, but you saw past that and gave me a chance. Will you give me another and marry me?"

"Oh, Zacharias," Hermione sighed as she held a hand to her heart, tears tipping over her eyelashes and trailing down her cheeks unchecked. "Yes. Yes, I'll marry you!"

He quickly rose from the floor, fumbling with the small box and even smaller ring, before Hermione took pity on her fiancé and plucked the box from his nervous fingers. She pulled the ring from its nesting place and slipped it on her left ring finger, the box falling to the floor with a small thwack. Barely glancing at the ring, she looked up at Zach and placed her hands on either side of his face.

"It's beautiful," she breathed before she pulled him down and pressed her lips against his.

He eagerly returned her kiss, pulling back a few moments later, he was sporting a large grin. "You didn't even look at it."

"I didn't have to," Hermione replied. "I know I'll love anything from you."

Zach raised a blond eyebrow as he stared down at her. "Anything?"

"Well, not your cooking," she said. "You could burn water without even trying."

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Who said I wasn't trying?"

Hermione dropped her hands to her hips as she stared up at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "What can I say? I love your cooking, so why ruin a good thing?"

She huffed as she smacked him in the chest with the back of her hand. "You're incorrigible. I hope you know that."

He wrapped his arms around her waist. "It's part of my charm. And let's be honest, you wouldn't want me any other way," he reminded her.

"That's debatable," Hermione muttered as she snuggled into his embrace.

He squeezed her closer before releasing her and taking a small step backwards. "Now, about that bath you mentioned earlier. Care for some company?"

"I don't know," Hermione mused as she stepped away from him and walked towards the ensuite. She untied the belt from her robe and shrugged out of the silky material. "I'm not sure my fiancé would be very happy if a wizard joined me in the bath."

"Oh, you cheeky witch," Zach exclaimed as he raced after her and scooped her into his arms so she couldn't get away.


End file.
